


Closure

by gleeksfreaksandwannabes



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Jace and Magnus friendship, heart to heart, i'm not even sorry tbh, mentioned malec, post 2.20, this turned into alec angst again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 11:31:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12387213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gleeksfreaksandwannabes/pseuds/gleeksfreaksandwannabes
Summary: When Jace knocks on Magnus' door in the middle of the night, drinking tea and having a heart to heart is the last thing he expects, but he soon finds out it's exactly what Jace needs.





	Closure

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so this one's a little different, it's a little Magnus and Jace friendship for a change.  
> I just kind of wanted to get a little closure for the two of them, so let me know what you think!
> 
> As always, you can find me on Tumblr [here,](http://gleeksfreaksandwannabes.tumblr.com) so come chat with me if you'd like!

Magnus couldn't quite believe he was sitting on the couch in his loft, reading for the first time in months without some kind of threat to deal with. 

When they had first stopped Valentine he, and many other Shadow World leaders, had been wary; there was nothing to worry about after the demons had left the city and Valentine was dead. They were still capturing Circle members of course, but the silence that had fallen over their world had been eerie, as if they were teetering on a ledge, not knowing they were on the precipice of death. It had been a week since then, and everyone had slowly begun to unwind, returning to whatever kind of normalcy they could stomach, and so while Alec was working late at the institute on a stack of incident reports, Magnus had found himself for the first time in months able to relax and enjoy the silence.

That is, until a knock at the door broke him out of his thoughts. Magnus set the book down and stood up, his magic almost reflectively sparking at his fingertips as he made his way to the front door. Almost hesitantly, although he couldn't quite put his finger on why, he reached for the door, and was greeted someone who somehow made his adrenaline kick into gear faster than a circle member would,

"Jace!" Magnus let out as he opened the door "Is everything alright?" the other man looked up at that, but Magnus noticed the usual spark had disappeared from his eyes. In fact, he looked terrible; his mismatched clothes were disheveled, as if he'd slept in them, if he had slept at all, Magnus thought grimly. Jace's eyes were rimmed with dark circles, a stark contrast against the pallor of his face, framed by limp blonde hair that had somehow lost its light as well.

"Is Alec here?" Magnus was about to ask why Jace didn't see his brother at the institute, but something in the blankness of his gaze told him he either hadn't been home or he was too lost in his thoughts to notice if Alec was there.

"He'll be at the institute late tonight," Magnus said carefully "come in, we can't have you standing around in the hallway all night," he watched warily as Jace nodded absently, following him into the living area; he had never seen Jace so out of it before. Angry Jace, he could deal with, Jace asking for help, Jace in battle, Jace worried about his brother, those he could handle, but this? This absent, almost broken Jace? He had no clue what to do with him.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Jace asked suddenly. Magnus blinked,

"I thought you'd be at the institute--"

"I can't sleep there," he said quickly "so can I stay? I can find somewhere else if you and Alec were going to, y'know..." he winked, and Magnus was briefly glad to see he had perked up a little,

"Don't be crude," Magnus told him "your brother's exhausted. And so are you..." he mused, watching as Jace made his way over to the couch and collapsed into it. This wasn't exactly abnormal, Jace had a habit of making himself at home everywhere he went, Magnus couldn't count the number of times Alec's parabatai had let himself into the loft and flopped down on the couch before even saying hello, but this was different. It was as if Jace's legs had collapsed underneath him; he had sunk wearily into the couch, his head flopping onto the back as he stared sleepily out the window.

"Jace, you look awful," Magnus said, perching himself on the armchair by the couch.

"Did anyone ever tell you you should work on your hospitality?" Jace asked. Magnus could almost see his smirk even though his back was turned "You know, I've been here all of five minutes and you--" he was cut off as a mug of steaming tea appeared before him, and he picked it up, eyeing it warily "what is it?"

"Peppermint tea," Magnus told him, taking a sip of his own tea, and Jace gingerly did the same "its to help you sleep. Alec told me he always made you a cup whenever he drank it at night." Jace's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to protest, but Magnus went on "Don't blame your brother, he rambles when he's tired," a small smile crossed his face at the thought "it's kind of adorable," Jace smiled, albeit briefly, before turning back to his tea and taking a bigger sip "He's worried about you, you know. We all are, after what happened at Lake Lyn." Jace didn't look up from his mug, staring silently into his drink as if it could answer for him. Magnus couldn't imagine the weight he was carrying; Alec had said he had died at the lake, but in all Magnus' years, he had never heard of a shadowhunter coming back from the dead.

Whatever it was Jace was carrying, there was no way he'd be ready to share it any time soon,

"You love Alec, don't you?" Magnus blinked, taken aback,

"Of course I do," he said, his next words wary as he watched Jace take a pensive sip from his mug "Jace, what's--?"

"I knew that." he said, his eyes fixed on something Magnus couldn't see "Well, I knew he loved you. Alec loves with everything he has, and he did that with you, even though he was scared." Magnus nodded wordlessly, even though Jace hadn't looked up. He seemed transfixed, staring at a spot on the carpet "I felt him up on that alter, you know? He was terrified of marrying Lydia, and then you showed up. I expected him to panic, and he did, for a second, but when he saw you and made his decision it was like everything had all melted away. I've never seen him happy, Magnus," he said, finally looking up "not like he is with you. I always worried about him never finding someone, he was always so closed off. I guess some part of me knew why, but I was worried that we'd all grow up and get married and leave the institute and he'd be left alone. He deserved to be happy, to fall in love, I was sure of it, but there was nothing I could do to help him." he sighed, setting his mug down, his earnest gaze meeting Magnus' as he turned back to face him "I guess what I'm saying is I'm sorry for what I said before Max's party. I know this isn't a fling, at least not for Alec,"

"It isn't for me either," Magnus told him, with more honesty than he had intended, but it felt right, telling him. Jace was one of the most important people in Alec's life, he deserved to know "Jace, I love your brother, more than I ever thought I could. He's kind and compassionate, he's brave and powerful, and he's stronger than he knows. I love him, and I hope you know I'd never want to hurt him,"

"He's amazing," Jace said, a fond smile ghosting over his features "and I know you wouldn't hurt him, I knew that night when I told you not to, it's just that - he's my brother, you know?"

"I do," Magnus said kindly "Jace, I love him, probably almost as much as you do, and I will for as long as I can. I can't promise that we won't get hurt, but I can promise you that I will love your brother for as long as I possibly can." he smiled at that, a small grin flitting across his expression, but more than he had smiled all night,

"I know, Magnus," he said earnestly "I'm just - he's really lucky to have you,"

"You too," Magnus said, taking another sip of his tea "Jace--"

"So you're sure it's cool for me to stay here? I'll be out of your hair first thing tomorrow,"

"Of course it is," Magnus insisted "Jace, you're welcome here anytime, you know that."

"Easy now," Jace said with a smirk "you're not my brother in law yet," Magnus let out an awkward chuckle despite himself; at least Jace's sense of humor hadn't taken a hit yet.

"Look, Jace, I know we're not exactly close, but if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here," Jace just stared at him, but the brief flicker of uncertainty across his features, followed by a relieved smile, was only confirmation Magnus needed.

"Thanks, Magnus," he said, lying down as the warlock stood up, nestling his head amongst the pillows and curling up under the blanket he had summoned for him.

"Anytime," with a flick of the wrist, Magnus' tea was gone and Jace's mug was refilled, enchanted to stay warm all night, and the blonde inhaled deeply, his eyes falling closed as he let out a calm breath "just try not to frighten your brother when he gets home,"

Jace mumbled something in reply, pulling the blanket right up under his chin, and within moments he was asleep, the creases of tension in his face smoothed away, his chest rising and falling slowly, and Magnus dimly wondered when he had last slept. He looked peaceful like this, and Magnus could almost see what Alec and Clary had seen in him; his angular, guarded expression had melted away now, his eyes were gently closed, their gold lashes pillowed on the smooth porcelain skin. Magnus had never seen him so calm, even when he had stayed at the loft after Aldertree kicked him out of the institute he had been restless; Magnus had caught him in the middle of the night in the living room or the kitchen drinking tea or staring out the window, and when he did sleep, it hadn't been peaceful. He had had creases in his forehead, his demons never letting him rest, and yet he had slapped on a rune or drank some coffee and acted like everything was fine.

This was better, Magnus thought, Jace deserved to sleep properly after everything he had been through, even if it was on his couch rather than at home, and if finally having some peace meant that he struck up conversations about things he could bring himself to talk about before he was ready to face his demons, then Magnus was happy to oblige.


End file.
